, 1887-03-02
THE FLOODSI IN DEMERARA.

large ulSIElClS vi lu0 COlOIlN dIo greater
than the majority of the inhabitants rave
seen before. The rain has been upon us
since the early part of December, and
instead Of the season, according to our
usual experience, failing off as January
advanced, it increased in severity during
that month and kept some of its heavi, st
dOwnpOurs for the present. Up till Tues.
day this week. there was not the least APP
pearanc of any break in the weather, and
on that day, which was rainy from dawn to
dark, there were fusiladeS from the clouds
such as are seldom to be seen even in the
tropics. The distress to which we alluded
last week consequent upOn the flooding Of
the village lands throughout the colony,
has been intensified, and many Of the poor
have been subjected to Inconvenience,
hardship, and distress, which require to
be seen to be understood. Many villages
with their provision and pasture ground
annpxes are Tor, were, for we are glad to
he able to say the rains are a%bating) from
two to four feet under water, the villagers
hutS looking like bathing machines in a
placid sea, water up to the doorstep, fire.
Quently above it, no road to be seen, not
q blade of grass for COW or mule, or a dry
foot of ground for the smaller stock. The
people were helpless and no help could be
SAlGlINlCl W llltHA III HI way VI LtllCA luS
their lands of the water; they had simply
to sit and suffer, to awake in the morning
with nothing to do. their farms all lost to
sight, crops ruined and all attempts ut
cultivation impossible; to wade through
water and slush to the nearest shop for
supplies; aud then wait for the night when,
cold and wet, they had to select the best
corner Of a house soaked from roof to floor,
the food up to the stills and the driving
rain forcing itself through the weak spots
Of roof and sides, and these spots many.
To the strongest men and women Sucl an
experience is distressing, but to the young
and aged and Sickly it is an ordeal sure to
he followed by deplorable if not speedily
fatal results. Bad though the condition Of
the villages has been during these weeks
of deIuge, it is likely to be more decidedly
inSanitary when the bulk of water has been
drained off or evapOrated. leaving muddy
BluShy soil reeklng with malariOuS VapOurS.
And as an accompaniment to the WTetched
surroundings, there will be famine from
loss of ground provisions and plantainS,-
the mainstay of the blackman'S table. A
few mouths past, creole provisions were
selling at rates almost unprecedentedly
low, owing to their abundance; now, all
that plenty has disappeared and for months
to come creole vegetables will be both
scarce and dear. 1t will be fortunate for
all concerned if no epidemic should break
out amongst the people to a~ggravate the
distress that must ensue from the total
destruction of their crops and the loss Of
large numbers of their cattle and of small.
Ter stock.
In regarding the calamity which is being
felt from end to end Of the colony, in al
most every village and settlement, it is de
plorable to think that all, or almost all,
the damage and distress must be attribut-
ed to causes %avoidable. All during this
a%bnormally heavy season the majority of
the sugar estates lave not been flooded,
although in many cases the and along
side. of them-the property of villagers
have been lying under two or three feet of
water. III no district could tie difference
between the protected and the unprotected
properties be more clearly demonstrated
that on the Demerara East C0aSt,-a
stretch of sugar estates and village lands
of about twenty miles in length, all situat-
ed precisely alike with regard to their
common enemy in the wet season, the
savannah water. For the information of
our readers in other countries we may
state here briefly, how the estates are laid
out. They are all part of an %alluvial fiat
that stretches from the seashore to a dis
lance of from Is to 20 miles inland. They
vary in breadth from about a quarter of a
mile tO a mile Or more. and RIM hack from